New Kid in Town
by merciaj
Summary: high school AU: Dean Winchester didn't consider himself the type of person to "fall in love." His life wasn't some kind of chick flick. Little did he know, that would all change when he met the new kid.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: soo this is more of a "serious" fic than my last one! it's pretty much the most cliche plot ever...whatever haha i tried ok i hope you like it idk**

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It was Monday, and Dean Winchester wasn't in the mood to talk. To anyone. But everyone seemed to be in the mood to talk to him.

"Hey Dean. Uh, how was your weekend?" Dean turned around to see a timid boy looking at him nervously.

"Chuck. Hey. It was just fine." Dean turned back around, not interested in continuing any kind of conversation with Chuck. Suddenly he felt someone tapping his shoulder.

"What do you want?" Dean groaned as he turned to look at one of his best friends, Jo.

"Have you heard about the new kid?" Dean rolled his eyes. He hadn't heard about the new kid, but of course Jo had. She seemed to know everything about everyone, and it really got on Dean's nerves sometimes. Jo started to tell him about the kid when the teacher cut her off.

"Jo? Dean? Do you two have something you want to share with the class?" They shook their heads and the teacher continued. "Good, because I have a new student to introduce to y'all. This is Castiel, and he will be joining us for the rest of the school year." Dean and Jo shifted their attention to the boy being introduced. He was looking down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with anyone, but Dean still saw the boy's bright, clear blue eyes. Castiel's clothing was a little strange but Dean didn't really care; he wanted to get to know this kid. The teacher put a hand on Castiel's shoulder and guided him towards the class. "Why don't you take a seat over there next to those chatty Cathys, Jo and Dean." Jo excitedly waved Castiel over, and he shuffled to the empty desk next to her.

"Hey, I'm Jo. This is Dean." Castiel shyly waved at the two of them after Jo's introduction. Jo continued to try to make conversation, but the new kid was pretty quiet. "So Castiel, where'd you come from?" she asked.

"Chicago," Castiel mumbled, still avoiding eye contact.

"The Windy City, huh? Cool. So what class do you have next?"

Castiel unfolded a crisp piece of paper, his schedule. "I suppose I have...English."

Jo smiled. "Well would you look at that! So does Dean." Jo elbowed Dean and he looked up.

"Uh, yeah, English. Right. I hate English," Dean stuttered. He could feel his face turning an embarrassing shade of red. He had been lost in thought...about Cas. He didn't know why, but there was just something about this blue-eyed, trenchcoat-wearing kid that made Dean want to know him.

Dean went about his day in a haze. On the way to English he had seen some jerk making fun of Cas's suit. Dean wanted to talk to Castiel in class but the teacher was watching him like hawk, and getting on his case about not turning in his homework.

At lunch, Dean sat with his usual crowd of Jo, Sam, and some other friends of theirs. He spotted Cas standing alone. "Jo, go talk to Castiel and tell him to come sit with us," Dean whispered.

"Why can't you?" Dean rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. I'll go get him. But you owe me!" Jo sighed.

When Jo and Castiel returned to the table, Jo took it upon herself to integrate Castiel into the group. "This is Castiel. He moved here from Chicago, he likes to read, and his brother Gabriel is a sophomore."

Sam looked up at Cas, "Really, Gabriel's your brother? He's in my World History class, he's so funny! I was talking to him earlier-"

Dean cut Sam off, "No one wants to hear about your man crush, Sammy." Dean turned to Castiel. "What are you doing in Lawrence?"

Cas looked confused. He replied, "I'm living here."

Jo smiled. "No, like, why did you move here?" she asked gently.

"Oh." Cas nodded slowly. "Well, my brother got transferred to a new job. And he made myself and Gabriel move with him." As Cas was talking, someone brushed by Dean, placing their hand on his shoulder.

Dean sighed. "Hi Carmen. What do you want?" Carmen batted her eyelashes.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you wanted to...hang out, after school today." Normally Dean would've been all for "hanging out" with Carmen. But not today. He had no patience with her; especially when she interrupted his conversation with Castiel.

"No, Carmen. Not today. Can you go somewhere else?" Carmen looked upset and left, and everyone at the table looked at Dean. Jo spoke up, "What is with you today?"

Dean looked away. "I don't know..."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: eeeee i think this chapter kinda sucks sorry but maybe you'll think it's good! it's kinda long though so anyway yeah here it is idk hopefully the next chapter will be like dramatic and stuff but idk**

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At home, Dean didn't know what to do with himself. He didn't want to play video games with Sam, he didn't want to work on cars with Bobby, he definitely didn't want to do his homework. He remembered Castiel mentioning at lunch that he lived in a big blue house just down the street from the Winchesters. Dean took his keys and headed for the door. "I'm going out!" he called, and he was gone.

As he was making his way to Castiel's house, he felt nervous, and he didn't know why. Dean Winchester didn't get nervous. But something about this new kid just made Dean feel different.

When he knocked on the door of Cas's house, a scrawny kid about Sam's age opened the door. "Are you Gabriel?" Dean asked, and the boy nodded. "Well I'm Dean. Is Castiel home?"

Gabriel nodded again and yelled out for Castiel. When Cas came to the door he was surprised. "Dean? What are you doing here?" Dean grinned.

"Do you want to hang out? I mean, if you're not busy or anything." Dean held up a six pack. "I didn't know if you would have any beer so I brought some. Anyway I figured you're new so I could show you around or something...if you want." Dean felt stupid but he tried to act confident.

Suddenly an older boy showed up at the door. Castiel turned to him and said, "Michael, this is Dean. He's from my school. I'm going to hang out with him. I'll be back later." Cas stepped outside and closed the door, not waiting to even see Michael's reaction.

Dean and Cas got into the Impala. "Want a beer?" Dean offered.

"I...okay." Cas took one and opened it, sipping it slowly.

"So, your brother...does he just let you do whatever you want or what?"

Castiel turned to look at Dean. "No, Michael is somewhat strict. But I do what I want anyway. I don't like to do what he tells me." Dean nodded, but he couldn't imagine being like that, at least when his dad was still around. Dean wasn't one to disobey orders from family.

"How do you like Lawrence?" Dean asked. Castiel shrugged.

"It's not my first choice of places to live."

Dean and Cas continued talking as they drove around the town, though Dean did most of the talking. Castiel was more interesting than you would've guessed.

In the middle of a conversation, Dean's cell phone rang. "Damn it, sorry. Hold on," he said to Cas.

"What, Bobby?"

On the other end of the call, Bobby said, "Were you planning to stay out all night, or did it ever cross your mind to come home, ya idjit?" Dean looked at the clock in the Impala. It was nearly one a.m.

"Shit. Sorry, Bobby. I'm on my way home." Dean hung up the phone and turned to Cas. "I gotta take you home, I guess." Castiel nodded.

They pulled up to Castiel's house to see Michael sitting, asleep, on the front porch. "I think maybe he wasn't too pleased about my absence." Castiel sighed. "I had a good time with you, Dean. We should hang out again."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow."

When Dean walked inside his house, Bobby glared at him but didn't say anything. Dean shrugged apologetically and went into his room.

Castiel was...cool. Dean was intrigued by Cas's gravelly, monotone voice and his lack of understanding of most of Dean's jokes and references.

The next day at school, Cas was wearing the same suit and trenchcoat getup, and the same assholes were messing with him before homeroom. Dean walked over and surveyed what was going on. He recognized a kid named Alastair as one of the head guys. "Hey, what the fuck, Alastair?" As soon as they heard Dean, the guys backed off. Dean looked over at Cas. He was staring at the ground.

Alastair and his friends were gone and Dean stepped closer to Castiel. He looked a little shaken up. "Hey...do you want to skip homeroom?" Dean asked. Cas hesitated, and then nodded. "Okay, come on, let's go."

Dean led Cas to the back of the school, where they slipped out the door and walked out. Sitting in the Impala, Dean looked at Cas, who was staring out the window. "Do you want to go somewhere?"

"Sure," Castiel said, still looking out the window across the school parking lot. Dean drove Cas to a small diner near the edge of town. A bell rang when they opened the door and stepped inside.

"Dean, how ya doing?" Dean smiled at the black-haired woman behind the counter.

"Doing just fine, Pamela. How about yourself?"

"Oh, you know. The usual. The world's out to get me."

Dean laughed. "Pamela, always so melodramatic."

"Who's your friend?"

Dean turned around and dragged a timid Castiel away from the door. "This is Castiel. He's new."

Pamela nodded. "Nice to meet you, Castiel. Well, take a seat. Coffee?" She held up a pot of fresh coffee.

"Sure." Dean and Cas sat across from each other at a table in front of a window. The two sat in silence for a minute before Dean looked up into Castiel's eyes. "Why do you wear that suit?"

Castiel looked down at his clothes, then back at Dean. "I don't know. I just do. Do you not like it?"

"No, it's fine," Dean said. "It's cute."

_Cute? _Did he just say _cute?_ Why did he say that? What was he thinking? Castiel just nodded, like there was nothing weird about Dean's choice of words, so Dean tried to not let on that he had something he didn't mean to say.

"Uhh, so, what do you think of school?" Dean asked, immediately wishing that he hadn't. He sensed that Castiel was having sort of a hard time.

"It's very...different. In Chicago I attended a smaller, more selective school... I'm not used to dealing with so many people."

Dean nodded. "That's okay. You'll get used to it. There's a lot of assholes but there's some good people there, too."

Pamela brought two mugs of coffee and set them on the table.

"Do you often skip class, Dean?"

Dean laughed. "Yeah, I do. Some days I just don't have the patience to put up with school and all that bullshit, you know?" Dean took a drink of coffee. "Do you want to go back to my house?"

Castiel cocked his head to the side. "Won't your father get mad that you're not at school?"

Dean shrugged and stood up. "Nah, my dad's not there, but Bobby is, and he won't care."

Castiel stood up and Dean dropped a five on the table. "Thanks, Pamela," he called out, and walked out to the Impala with Castiel. Dean felt nervous about bringing Cas to his house, but he tried to just shake it off.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: oookay sorry it took me so long to post this i wanted to make sure it was good. i wrote most of this in science class today and my teacher caught me writing and read some of it over my shoulder omfg so embarrassing... he said "scrabble? really?" umm ok don't judge! anyway this chapter wasn't as dramatic as i thought it would be but don't worry the next one is gonna be really good! also thanks to my lovely wonderful friend jessie aka jesssiesgirl for helping me write this chapter! without her this would be the most boring story ever.**

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Dean walked into his house and showed Cas to his. "So...this is where I live," Dean said sheepishly. He felt nervous about what Castiel would think of his room. The Led Zeppelin and AC/DC posters Dean loved now seemed dumb. He was embarrassed of the clothes thrown everywhere and dishes piled on the desk. "Uh...sorry it's so messy," he mumbled.

Castiel took a step further into the room. "This is a very nice room." Castiel walked over to the table next to Dean's bed and turned on the lava lamp. "Dean, what is this?"

Dean laughed. "It's a lava lamp."

"Molten lava is dangerous, why would you store such a thing in your room?"

Dean laughed again and walked over to Cas. "I'm pretty sure it's not real lava, Cas. That's just what it's called."

"Oh." Cas turned off the lamp.

"Hey, do you want to watch a movie?" Dean asked. Cas nodded and Dean showed him a collection of DVDs. "Have you ever seen Anchorman?" Castiel shook his head. "Okay, we're watching that." Dean led Cas to the living room downstairs and put the movie on. They sat next to each other on the couch.

Throughout the movie, Dean noticed Castiel would drift off to sleep then wake himself up by starting to fall over. Halfway through, Castiel fell asleep and didn't immediately wake back up; he just rested on Dean's shoulder. Dean considered subtly shaking Cas to wake him up, but he didn't. He would never admit, but he liked the weight of Cas leaning on him, and watching Castiel's chest rise and fall as he breathed.

Dean realized, sitting next to this boy he had only known a couple days, that he didn't feel feel the same way about Castiel that he did about his other friends.

While Dean was lost in thought, Cas woke up and Dean came back to reality. "Uhh...how'd you like the movie?" Dean asked. Cas said it was good, even though Dean knew he hadn't watched most of it.

"Dean."

"Yeah?"

"...Can we play Scrabble?"

Dean laughed at Cas's request. "Yeah, sure. I bet Sam has that game, he's always doing nerd things like that..." Dean led the way to Sam's room. "I don't know what it will be like inside here...be careful." Cas nodded and a determined look came over his face.

They stepped into Sam's room and it was surprisingly clean. It was too clean. There were encyclopedias and reference books stacked in neat, organized piles. Dean took a step towards a bookcase and spotted the Scrabble box. It wasn't Scrabbled, it was the deluxe edition.

Dean took the box and he and Cas set it up in his room. Cas went first, tentatively putting down a six-letter word. Dean was surprised; he usually used words like "cat." For his turn, Dean put "dog," and for his next turn, after Cas put down another big word, Dean was at a loss. He couldn't come up with any words, so he added some random letter to "dog."

"I don't think that's a real word, Dean."

Dean gasped. "Yes it is! I can't believe you would doubt me."

Cas's eyes widened. "Okay, okay. I believe you, Dean."

They continued playing, Cas using big fancy words and Dean using three-letter words, occasionally adding letters onto other words and pretending it was a real word.

"Dean, I think I should go home," Cas said. Dean felt a little confused.

"Okay...uh, I'll drive you home. Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes. I'm fine. It's Gabriel's birthday. I need to decorate the house before he gets home." Dean laughed. He thought it was sweet how Castiel cared about his brothers. Dean and Cas walked out to the Impala.

A few minutes, the car was stopped in front of Castiel's house, Cas was standing on the sidewalk, and Dean was looking up at him from the driver's seat of the Impala.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Dean. Thank you for hanging out with me today. I had a good time."

Dean smiled. "No problem, Cas. I'll see you tomorrow." Cas turned to walk up to his front door when Dean called out to him. "Hey, Cas?"

"Yes, Dean?"

Dean hesitated, gathering his courage. "I really like you." As soon as the words tumbled out of his mouth, Dean's face flushed bright red and his heart sped up and his fingers tightened on the steering wheel to keep him anchored down so he wouldn't run away and never look back like he wanted to.

Dean looked anxiously into Cas's eyes waiting for a reaction. The corners of Cas's mouth turned up a little, the closest thing to a smile Dean had ever seen on Cas's face. Castiel bit his lower lip and, without saying a word, turned and walked into his house.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: omg so i think this is a really good chapter! it's exciting too. part of it is rly awkward, at least i hope it is, that's what i was going for... jo is back by popular demand, she has a big part in this chapter, i realized when i was typing this up that she's kind of annoying when they're at lunch but she's not meant to be annoying or anything so i hope you don't see her like that! anyway this is a really long chapter! sorry for writing this novel of an author's note i hope you enjoy!**

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_Dean hesitated, gathering his courage. "I really like you." As soon as the words tumbled out of his mouth, Dean's face flushed bright red and his heart sped up and his fingers tightened on the steering wheel to keep him anchored down so he wouldn't run away and never look back like he wanted to._

_Dean looked anxiously into Cas's eyes, waiting for a reaction. The corners of Cas's mouth turned up a little, the closest thing to a smile Dean had ever seen on Cas's face. Castiel bit his lower lip and, without saying a word, walked into his house._

Dean watched Castiel walk into the house, and he sat in his car for a second; he didn't know what to think about what just happened. Fearing Cas might look out the window to see him still sitting there, Dean started the Impala and sped off. When he got home he grabbed some beer and food from the kitchen and rushed upstairs to his bedroom.

The next day, Dean was nervous about school. Really nervous. Before he could even walk in the door, Jo came up to him and with a sense of urgency in her voice said, "We need to talk." She took his arm and led him back to his car. Sitting in the Impala, Jo turned to Dean. "So, Castiel. He's cool, right?" Dean shrugged.  
"Have you talked to him much?" Dean shrugged again. Jo rolled her eyes. "Come on, Dean. You know that I know. So tell me! Everything!"

Dean looked at Jo. "I…don't know what you mean."  
"Fuck you! We're best friends, right? You don't think I deserve to know that you've been hanging out with Castiel nonstop the past two days? You don't think I deserve to know you told him you _really like _him?"

"How the fuck do you know all this?" Dean asked indignantly.

Jo smiled mysteriously. "I might have gotten a call from someone last night…"

"Oh my god, Jo. What did he tell you?" Dean asked. He was extremely anxious to hear what Castiel had said to Jo, but he didn't want Jo to know that. Jo flashed him that same mysterious smile, and Dean had to use all his self control to not yell at her.

"He told me that you two hung out all day yesterday, and when you took him to his house, you told him you really like him." Jo raised an eyebrow and studied Dean to see if her information was correct. Dean sighed and looked out the window. "Oh my god. It's true, isn't it? Oh my god. So you like him? You _like-like_ him?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "'like-like'? what are we, middle schoolers?"

"You're avoiding the question," Jo said. Dean bit his lip and nodded just slightly so no one but Jo could have been able to tell that yes, Dean Winchester liked Castiel. Despite the fact that he didn't even know the boy's last name.

"Oh my god. I can't believe it. Dean has feelings." Dean rolled his eyes again and Jo laughed. "If you keep rolling your eyes they're just going to stay like that, stuck in your head!"

"Whatever. So, was that all he said?"

Jo shook her head. "Oh, no. He told he didn't know what to do, he hasn't said anything to you yet, and…"

"What? What else did he say?" If Jo didn't hurry and give him the full story, Dean would hit something.

"He said he likes you, too," Jo said, smiling up at Dean. "You guys are so cute."

Dean scoffed. "We are not cute."  
"Yes, you are." Dean went to get out of the car when Jo stopped him. "You haven't even heard what I told him yet!"

Dean sighed. "Okay. What did you tell him?"

Jo took a deep breath, as if she was about to reveal the world's biggest secret. "I told him I was gonna get you guys together!"

"Okay, matchmaker. How exactly do you plan to do that?"  
"Umm…I haven't quite worked that out yet…"

"Well then maybe you should keep it that way. I don't need anyone to meddle in my life." Dean got out of the car. He didn't want to be at school. He wanted to run far away.

"Don't just run away from this, dean," Jo said, as if she read Dean's mind. Dean took a deep breath and walked towards the school.

His first class was algebra, which Jo was in and Castiel, thankfully, was not. Not that Dean didn't want to see Cas. He did. Just not until he figured out what to do. Instead of concentrating on math, Dean and Jo passed notes during all of class.

_Jo, what do I do? -Dean_

_Just don't make a fool of yourself. -Jo_

_I can't make any promises. -Dean_

_When's the next time you'll see him? -Jo_

_In English right before lunch. -Dean_

_Okay, so, walk up to him and ask him if he wants to talk to you at lunch, and then have a nice conversation about your feelings. -Jo_

_Don't confuse my life with a chick flick. -Dean_

On his way to English, Dean thought he was going to throw up. It's not like he had never been in a relationship before or anything. But he had never been so up front about his feelings. He felt vulnerable, and that wasn't a feeling he was used to He was about to walk into the classroom when someone came up behind him and dragged him around the corner.

"Becky? What the hell?" Becky was short, blonde, and easily excitable. Dean did not really want to be talking to her.

"I heard about you and Castiel…" Upon hearing this, Dean vowed to interrogate Jo about sharing his personal life with the whole world. Becky continued, "…and I just wanted you to know that you guys are so cute together-"

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"  
"-and I totally ship you guys together."

"What the fuck, Becky. This is real life, you can't just tell people you ship them."

Becky laughed. "I know, Dean! But I don't care. I'm not going to let a perfect go unnoticed!"

"Whatever, Becky. I'm late for English." dean got out of Becky's grasp and walked back to his class.

"Mr. Winchester, thanks for joining us. What was going on that was so much more important than your education?"

"Uhh, I just had some stuff to do." Dean walked to his seat at the back of the room… next to Castiel. He took a deep breath. "Hey, Cas," he whispered. Dean tried not to hyperventilate.  
"Hi, Dean." Castiel stared at Dean with his sharp blue eyes.

"Mr. Novak? Can you pay attention to class, rather than to Mr. Winchester?" Dean resisted the urge to throw the pen in his hand at the teacher. He hated her, but on the bright side, at least now he knew Cas's last name.

They couldn't talk for the rest of class, but as soon as the bell rang, Dean grabbed Cas's arm and led him to an empty, quiet place under a stairwell.

"What are we doing here?" Castiel asked, obviously confused.

Dean took a breath.. "Uh, do you want to talk?" Cas just looked at Dean, cocking his head to the side. "Uh, so, I, uh…I really like you, you know," Dean said, almost in a whisper.

Cas nodded. "Yes, I know. I…I like you too, Dean." Dean gulped. This wasn't exactly an ideal situation to be having this conversation.

"Um. That's great…" Dean knew his face was embarrassingly red, meanwhile Castiel was showing very little emotion and it was making Dean even more nervous. "So, um…do you, uh. Cas, do you want to go out…sometime?"

Cas smiled. Like, really, sincerely smiled. "Yes. Yes, I do want to go out sometime, Dean." Dean wanted to scream, he was so happy. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this happy. He grinned back at Cas and asked him if he wanted to go get lunch.

A few minutes later, Dean and Cas walked up to their friends' lunch table and sat down next to each other. Everyone at the table looked over at them knowingly. Jo could hardly contain herself. Dean's face heated up. "God damn it, Jo." Dean noticed Becky sitting next to Jo, and the two girls exchanged gleeful looks that irritated Dean to no end. Sam looked like he was about to laugh, and Dean had a strong urge to hit him. "I think you all deserve to know that I really hate all of you right now."

"I bet he doesn't hate Castiel," whispered Jo to Becky, but loud enough so that Dean could hear.

"I heard that!" Dean growled. "So, can you guys handle this? Or should Cas and I leave? I don't want the drama of our lives to be too much for you," Dean said, mainly to Becky and Jo, apparently Dean and Cas's biggest supporters.

"We'll behave!" Becky squeaked, and Jo nodded. Dean rolled his eyes, and laced his fingers with Cas's under the table.

The rest of lunch passed without much said by Dean or Castiel. They just listened to the conversations swirling around them. The bell rang and Dean walked Cas to his next class. "Do you want to hang out after school?" Dean mumbled nervously. Cas nodded, and Dean smiled. "Okay. I'll see you later." Cas smiled back at Dean.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: oook so this is an okay chapter. it's not really the most exciting but it's really important! there's lots thats really important for the rest of the story so i hope you enjoy this woo this chapter and the next one will explore more of the bullying thing :( nothing too bad happens though so don't worry! anyway yeah here's the chapter yay**

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Thursday morning, Dean and Cas showed up to school together. They had hung out the previous day, all afternoon spent Dean's room, just talking. Mostly Dean asking Cas questions. His favorite band, his favorite movies, stuff like that. Even with Dean, Cas wasn't one to volunteer information about himself unless he was asked.

Dean and Cas were making their way to the school building when they heard a nasally voice behind them.

"Hey, guys. How ya doing?"

They stopped walking and turned around to face the person talking. "Alastair. Great to see you. Now fuck off," Dean said angrily.

"Come on, guys. We're friends, aren't we? Now I've heard some things about you two, things that I found very interesting... I heard you guys were a couple of-"

Alastair abruptly stopped talking when Dean's fist connected with his face. Dean wasn't going to let Alastair go any further, and he took by Cas by the arm and led him away, leaving Alastair standing bewildered in the parking lot, clutching his jaw.

"Dean..."

"Cas, it's okay. Don't worry about him. I'll take care of it."

"You'll take care of it? Well, I can fight my own battles, Dean. I don't need you to take care of anything."

"This is our battle, Cas; I don't know if you realized that." Dean put his hands on Cas's shoulders and lightly placed his lips on Cas's cheek before stepping into his class and leaving Cas standing wide-eyed in the hallway.

Dean stumbled to his seat in his economics class and caught sight of Alastair glaring at him from across the room. Dean turned the other way and noticed Chuck also staring at him, although less viciously than Alastair. "Hey, Chuck."

Chuck smiled nervously. "H-hey, Dean. Soo...Castiel, huh..." Dean rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Chuck. Yeah." Was this the only thing anyone was ever going to talk to him about now? It wasn't just people like Chuck and assholes like Alastair. It was everybody. Walking down the hall, Dean felt like everyone's eyes were on him. He walked past Sam on the way to physics and Sam pulled him aside.

"Dude, are you okay? You look like the whole world's out to get you or something," Sam said, looking up at his brother with a concerned expression on his face.

"Well Sam, maybe that's because the whole world is out to get me!"

Sam looked at his watch and then sympathetically back at Dean. "I'm gonna be late for math but talk later? I need a ride home today!" Sam rushed off, leaving Dean irritated in the hallway. He made his way to his next class, deciding that he needed to have another talk with Jo.

In physics, they were doing some kind of experiment and Jo was Dean's lab partner. Dean let Jo take the reins on the science stuff while he sat back and voiced his problems.

"I don't like all this attention. Alastair probably put a price on my head after this morning and all of our friends are talking to me saying the same stupid shit like 'so, Castiel, huh?' and this is all your fault!"

Jo put a hand on Dean's shoulder. "No, no, no, Dean. The thing with Alastair, first of all, is your fault. You didn't have to hit him."

"Yes I did!"

Jo shook her head. "No, you didn't. And maybe I did suggest to our friends that something was going on, but they would've figured it out eventually without my help. I mean, have you seen the way Castiel looks at you?"

"Yeah," Dean mumbled, "last time someone looked at me like that, I got laid."

"Didn't need to hear that, Dean. Anyway, so what if you're getting a bit more attention? Suck it up."

"Easy for you to say," Dean scoffed. "You're not in this situation. And what about Cas? He's new and he was already getting picked on before all this, what's it like for him now?"

Jo rolled her eyes. "Dean, you're exaggerating. Everyone loves Castiel! Maybe some assholes are giving him a hard time, but there's a lot of people who think he's pretty cool. Sam wants him to join the math club."

Dean stood up. "Math club? Fuckin' Sam is trying to turn my boyfriend into a nerd!" Dean noticed the smirk on Jo's face and realized what he had just said. He hadn't acknowledged Cas as his..._boyfriend_ before.

* * *

Castiel and Sam were in the same math class, even though Sam was just a sophomore. Cas was sitting quietly working when Sam leaned over to him. "Hey, Castiel. You know what? You should join math club," Sam whispered.

Cas shook his head. "No, thank you, Sam. I don't really like clubs."

"But math club is so fun! You'd love it!" Out of the corner of his eye, Cas saw a hand reach out and lightly smack Sam on the back of his head. "Ow, Anna, what the hell?" Castiel turned to look at the redhead girl sitting behind Sam.

"Don't listen to him, Castiel, math club is dumb." Sam mumbled that it was not dumb, but Anna talked over him. "I'm Anna." She extended her hand and Cas gingerly shook it. "So, Castiel, where did you move from again?"

"Chicago."

Anna nodded. "Right. That's cool. So you're...friends...with Dean Winchester?"

Castiel bit his lip. "Um..."

Anna raised her eyebrows. "It's okay, you don't have to talk about it...if you don't want to." Castiel was silent. Anna continued, "So I"m having this party at my house tomorrow night, and you should come! Dean's invited, too." Anna turned her attention briefly to the boy in front of her. "You can come too, Sam. I guess." Anna glanced back at Cas expectantly.

"Oh, um. How nice of you. Sure, I'll go to your party..." Castiel said slowly.

Anna's face lit up. "Awesome!"

After math it was time for lunch. Castiel didn't know what class Dean would be getting out of so he just followed Sam to the table where their friends usually sat. Dean and Jo walked up a couple minutes later. Sam had been sitting next to Cas, but he moved so that Dean could sit next to Cas. "Dean," Cas said quietly.

"Yeah, Cas?"

"This girl, Anna, is having a party tomorrow and I told her we would go."

"Anna? She's kind of annoying...but if you want to go, we'll be there."

Jo chimed in, "Anna's having a party? I don't remember her inviting me!" Jo got up to go find Anna, and Cas leaned over and rested on Dean's shoulder. He felt Dean wrap an arm around his waist. Cas had been really upset about moving to Lawrence, Kansas from Chicago, but now that he was there, he didn't mind it at all. He tuned out the conversation going on around him and focused on the warmth radiating from Dean and how right it felt to be leaning against him.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Jo returned. "Hey, do y'all want to come over to my house after school? I already called Ellen, she said it was okay... Becky and Chuck will be there." Jo looked around the table and everyone agreed to go over to Jo's house. "Sam, you're friends with Gabriel, right?" Jo asked and Sam nodded. "You should ask him to come, too." Sam nodded again.

After school, Dean, Cas, Sam, and Gabriel all piled into the Impala and drove to Jo's house.

"Hey, Ellen," Dean said when Jo's mom greeted them at the door.

"I think Jo's taking everyone into the living room," Ellen told the group. They thanked her, and Dean led the way to the room in the back of the house. Dean and Cas sat next to each other on a couch. Cas had a nice time, sitting with Dean, talking with his new friends. He got to know Chuck a little better and it turned out that Chuck was pretty cool, even though everyone else seemed to think he was a little annoying.

Ellen kicked everyone out at 11:00, insisting that since it was a school night, everyone needed to get home.

Dean gave Cas and Gabriel a ride home. When they pulled up to the Novak's house, Dean leaned over and kissed Castiel on the cheek again. "I'll come pick you up in the morning, okay?" Cas said okay and smiled at Dean before getting out of the car.

When he and Gabriel were watching the Impala drive away, Gabriel muttered, "Michael wouldn't be too happy about that, you know."

Castiel turned to his brother angrily. "Then don't tell him. I don't care what Michael thinks anyway."

* * *

The next day when Dean and Castiel showed up to school, they didn't run into any trouble. Dean noticed a few people saying 'hi' to Cas in the hallway. Jo was right, there were a lot of people who seemed to think Cas was pretty cool.

When the day was over Dean dropped Cas off at his house to get ready for the party. "I'll pick you up at 7, okay?" Dean drove home and took a shower and changed his clothes. Dean took some food from the fridge and had a quick meal before heading out the door a few minutes before 7.

With Cas in the car, they were ready to go. Dean was looking up directions to Anna's house on his phone when Cas spoke up from the passenger seat. "Dean...I've never been to many parties." Dean looked up from the screen of the phone. He put an arm around Cas's shoulders.

"That's okay. This will be fun, I promise."

"If you say so, Dean."

Dean kissed Castiel. "It'll be okay. And we can leave whenever you want." Cas nodded nervously. "Okay, you ready?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: wow i hate this chapter, only cos it's sort of sad! poor baby cas! everyone who said i should write more of the bullying, i hate you :c but not really, i actually love you for reviewing this story 3 anyway sorry this chapter is a little shorter than the ones before it! enjoy it anyway xoxo**

* * *

When Dean and Cas pulled up to Anna's house, there were already a lot of people there. The two of them walked up to the front door and were greeted by Anna. "Hey, I'm really glad y'all made it." Anna smiled and welcomed them into the house. "There's beer in the refrigerator!"

There were groups of people everywhere. Dean held Cas's hand and the stepped into what seemed to be the family room. Dean saw Jo on the other side of the room and pulled Cas over to her. "I'm going to go get some beer, okay?" Dean yelled over the music. Cas nodded and watched Dean make his way through the crowd.

"So Castiel, how are you adjusting to the glamour of Lawrence?" Jo asked.

Cas shrugged. "It's not as bad as I thought it would be." He said, fighting back a huge smile.

"Yeah, I know why that is..." Jo grinned. "Really, you and Dean are great together."

"Well, thank you, Jo."

"Hey, I'm going to go find Dean, actually. We'll be back, okay?" Jo disappeared into the crowd and Cas found himself alone. He was listening to the shitty music and watching the people dance when he felt someone grab the back of his jacket and drag him into a dark adjacent room. Cas thought at first it was Dean but the person was being too rough to be Dean. A familiar nasally voice whispered in Cas's ear and Cas knew who he was dealing with. His heart sped up; he did not want to be in this situation right now. He wanted Dean to save him.

"So, you think it's funny to sic your boyfriend on me? Can't stand up for yourself, Castiel?" Alastair took hold of Cas's shoulder and spun him around so Cas felt Alastair's breath on his face. Cas shuddered. Alastair lifted one of his hands from Cas's shoulder and punched him in the stomach. "You think you're better than everyone, don't you? You wear that fucking suit and trenchcoat everyday; who do you think you are?" Castiel was speechless. This is the last thing he expected to happen. This was the first real party Cas had ever been to and he hoped it would be his last.

"Dean..." Cas groaned, overwhelmed with pain and fear as Alastair slammed another fist into Cas's stomach. Cas felt his legs wanting to give out and tears welling up in his eyes but no, he wouldn't let himself collapse and he wouldn't let himself cry.

"Dean's not coming to your rescue this time. I've gotten a couple of people to deal with him..." Cas winced at the thought of what was happening to Dean. "So here's the deal, Castiel..." Alastair blindly threw a punch at Cas's face. "I think it would be in your best interest to start acting like a normal fucking person..." Another punch came at Cas's face and when his knees went weak and he knew he was going to fall, Alastair's hands grabbed his arms and pinned him against the wall. "...and you might want to look into becoming fucking invisible." Alastair took a hand off Cas's arm and hit him again. Cas was tempted to spit blood in Alastair's face but he knew that would just make everything worse. "If you ever piss me off again, and believe me, Castiel, it's very easy to piss me off, I will-"

Suddenly Alastair was cut off and knocked sideways. Without Alastair's painful grip on his arms, Cas slid down the wall and fell to the floor. Cas cradled his head in his hands and heard the sound of someone's fist connecting repeatedly with someone's face.

"If you ever lay a fucking hand on him again, I will fucking kill you," Cas heard Dean grunt as he continued to attack Alastair. After he got in a few more hits, Dean picked Castiel up and basically carried him out of that pitch black room and out of the party. "We're leaving," Dean panted. "I don't want to be here when Alastair and his friends are conscious again." When Dean and Cas were sitting in the Impala, Cas got a good look at Dean. He had a black eye and there was blood trailing from his mouth. "Cas, you look awful, are you okay?"

Cas managed to nod and croak out a few words, "Dean...what happened..."

* * *

Dean shook his head as he started the Impala and floored the gas pedal. "I don't know, I went to get beer and then all of a sudden these two guy have dragged me out the back door into the yard and are trying to beat up on me...so I took care of them and left them lying bloody in the grass when I went to find you."

Cas let out a weak, dark laugh. "I guess...I can't really...fight my own battles..."

"Cas, no. Alastair just took you by surprise..."

"It's okay, Dean. Never mind."

"You're staying at my place, Cas." Dean and Castiel pulled up to the Winchester house, and Dean had to catch Cas after he tried to walk on his own. Dean dragged Cas in the house and laid him on the couch.

Sam, who decided to stay home from the party, rushed out of his room and down the stairs when he heard the front door slam shut.

"What happened?" Sam asked, shocked at the sight of his bruised older brother and his brother's boyfriend passed out on the couch.

Dean sighed. "We ran into Alastair at the party. I hope Cas'll feel better when he wakes up." Dean stumbled into the bathroom in the hallway and splashes water on his face. He feels like shit and he looks it, too. Dean rinsed the blood out of his mouth and returned to the living room where he laid down next to the couch Cas was on and fell asleep, his breathing syncing perfectly with Cas's.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: aahhh i feel like it's been forever since i posted a chapter, way longer than i meant for it to be! idk i just had writers block or something, this chapter was harder to write than it should've been. for once i'm not just making the plot up as i go, though! i'm excited to write the next few chapters! i've got three more chapters planned out after this one. i don't know if that's going to be the end of this story, though? i think it will be but i'm not sure. anyway, hope you like this chapter :)**

* * *

The time came for school on Monday, after a long weekend of Dean swearing he'd really kick Alastair's ass and Cas having to calm Dean down and make him promise to not kick anyone's ass. Dean didn't really want to admit it, but he was nervous about going to school. Whenever there was the least bit of drama, the whole school always knew about it, and what happened at Anna's party was definitely some drama.

Dean took a deep breath as he held Cas's hand and stepped inside the school. They didn't have the same first class, so Dean and Cas parted way at the front door. Dean felt everyone's eyes on him as he walked to physics, and he knew it wasn't all in his head. As soon as he took his seat in the classroom, Jo was bombarding him with questions.

"You did think I was worth calling? Why did I have to find out from Ash that you beat up two kids in Anna's backyard and that someone found Alastair blacked out in a dark room right after you dragged Castiel out of the place? What the fuck happened?"

Dean sighed. He should've known Jo wouldn't be happy that Dean hadn't called her right after the fact. "Well, I don't know where you disappeared to during the party, but those two assholes pulled me outside and started throwing punches so I had to, uh, take care of them. Then Alastair jumped Cas and left him lying on the floor, so I had to make sure Alastair wouldn't try that shit again. Cas has some nasty bruises."

"What about you?" Jo asked, concerned.

Dean shook his head. "Those guys might have looked tough, but they can't fight worth shit."

"Damn," Jo mumbled. "Well, the whole school knows now."

Dean scoffed. "Yeah, I can tell." Constantly throughout the lesson, kids turned their heads and glanced at Dean. He could only imagine how everybody was treating Cas, what with the evidence of a fight all over his face. The left side of Cas's face was slightly swollen and sporting a lovely group of blue and purple splotches. Not to mention the ugly black eye. Dean sighed and rested his head in his hands. He really wanted to forget this whole thing ever happened, but unfortunately the rest of school probably wouldn't be so willing.

* * *

In math, Castiel was being fawned over by Anna and Sam, and he wasn't too pleased about it. He honestly just wanted to do his work.

Anna put her hand on the side of Castiel's head and pulled him towards her so she could lightly touch the bruises on the side of his face. "Castiel...I am so sorry this happened. At my house, of all places. I didn't even invite those people that did this to you..."

Cas pulled away. "It's fine, Anna. Don't worry about it. It's really not your fault." Despite Cas's reassurances that he didn't have any bad feelings towards Anna, she didn't look satisfied. "Really, Anna. Don't blame yourself. At least after this, maybe Alastair will leave me alone."

Sam turned to Castiel. "Dean totally saved you, right? He like, beat up Alastair, right? Was it cool? It sounds so-" Sam stopped himself. Of course this incident wasn't cool.

Cas smiled sympathetically. "It's okay, Sam. But I couldn't really see what was happening." Sam nodded disappointedly. "It sounded cool, however." Cas could tell Sam was trying to suppress a grin. Cas thought it was sweet how much Sam looked up to Dean.

Castiel noticed throughout class that his friends weren't the only ones taking notice of him. There were a lot of people turning to look at him, whispering about him. He didn't mind, but if Dean was getting the same looks people were giving Cas, then he knew that was not going to go over well with Dean.

* * *

Dean walked to meet Cas outside the math room. Next they had english, together. On the way to Castiel's classroom, Dean tried to ignore the glances thrown his way, and the whispers that were obviously involving him. After all, he was Dean Winchester, right? He was used to some attention. But this was a different kind of attention. And he didn't like it.

Dean got to Cas's class just as Cas was walking out. Dean smiled and fell in step next to Cas. "Hey."

Cas looked up at Dean. "Hello, Dean."

Dean's hand wavered next to Castiel's as they walked. Dean nervously moved his fingers to lace with Cas's. Cas looked down at their interlocking hands and smiled almost imperceptibly, but Dean noticed the grin sneaking its way across Cas's face. Dean tried to distract himself from everyone else in the hallway staring as Castiel's bruises by thinking about just how damn lucky he was that he was holding hands with Castiel Novak.

But as hard as he tried, Dean just couldn't forget how much this extra attention was bothering him.

After english, Dean took Cas's hand and led him underneath a stairwell, the same place that, less than a week ago, Dean and Cas were confessing their attraction to each other. Dean inhaled shakily and looked into Castiel's eyes. "Cas, I think it's my fault that this happened." Cas tilted his head to the side, like he did when he was confused. Dean continued, "I mean, if I hadn't left you with Jo at that party, then this wouldn't have happened...if I had just stayed with you, then we wouldn't be in this situation. Cas, I'm so sorry. We can't go anywhere without the whole school staring at us. I can't take it, Cas."

"Dean." Cas put a hand on Dean's shoulder. "It's alright. It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault." Cas wrapped his hands around Dean's waist and leaned into him. "It doesn't matter if people stare at us," he said softly.

Dean shook his head. "No, Cas, it matters. You shouldn't have to go through this!"

Cas sighed. "Dean, I've been getting a lot of attention this past week. Today's no different, except that before, people looked at me because I was the new kid. Now they're looking at me because of the events that happened at Anna's party."

Dean took a step back, away from Cas. "Well, I've never had people whisper about me and stare at me like this! I'm glad you're used to it, but I'm not." Dean tried not to let it show, but he was angry. He didn't quite think he had the right to be angry, but whether or not it was justified, he was angry, about Alastair, about the fact that he was the new topic on everyone's minds, and about the fact that Cas didn't understand. Dean thought Cas would be one to empathize with him, but here Cas was, basically saying that he didn't mind! "Cas, if I hadn't left you at that party, this wouldn't have happened...if you hadn't been invited to that party, this wouldn't happened..." Dean felt his anger escalating, and he gave up on trying to stop it. "Cas, if you never came to this school, then this wouldn't have happened!"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Dean regretted it. Cas looked up at him, shocked. Dean froze. He couldn't look away from Cas; he couldn't focus on anything but the hurt in Cas's eyes. Dean knew he could say all he wanted that he didn't mean it, but it wouldn't fix what just happened.

The trust that had built up so quickly the past seven days shattered in a matter of two seconds. Cas didn't know what to do; he didn't know what to think. If Dean really felt this way, then where did that leave Cas? All he could do was turn around and leave. He didn't say a word to Dean. Cas just walked straight out from under the stairs, down the hall, and out the building. He didn't know where he was going, but Castiel had to get away, leaving Dean standing alone back inside the school, secluded away from the rest of the students. Dean fought back the tears that threatened to drip down his face, meanwhile Cas let the tears come, sliding fast down his bruised cheek.


End file.
